Caregivers' Experiences of Aggressive Persons with Schizophrenia

BACKGROUND: Understanding the caregivers’ experiences of aggressive persons with mental disorders is very important from the public health point of view. Only a few Indian studies have focused on this. No Indian studies could be found that explored the caregivers’ experiences of aggressive persons with schizophrenia. This study was conducted to explore the same. METHODS: A qualitative phenomenological study was conducted in the outpatient and inpatient settings at a tertiary care mental health institute at Bengaluru, Karnataka. Ten participants meeting the eligibility criteria were selected using purposive sampling. Data collection was done by individual, in-depth, face-to-face, semi-structured interviews using topic guide along with subjective observation and field notes. Each interview was audio-recorded, transcribed, translated, and coded. A total of five master themes and 22 subthemes were derived from the codes by using the qualitative research software ATLAS-Ti. RESULTS: The themes derived based on the experiences of caregivers living with their aggressive persons with schizophrenia were the aggressive behaviors of the patients, reasons for the aggression of the patients, dealing with the aggression of the patients, the impact of aggression on the caregivers, and the coping methods of the caregivers. CONCLUSION: This study explored the experiences of the caregivers living with the aggressive patients. The results show the need for care and support to the caregivers. The themes can guide mental health professionals while developing culture-specific tools and interventions for future research as well as suggest them standard operating procedures for prevention and management of aggressive patients in the psychiatric hospitals.